FL School Board: Ban All Clubs To Keep Out Gay-Straight Alliance

Several members of the Lake County, Florida school board have proposed banning all extracurricular clubs in order to prevent students from forming a Gay-Straight Alliance.

School Board members Bill Mathias, Debbie Stivender and Chairwoman Kyleen Fischer spoke in favor of a rule that would ban extra-curricular clubs in secondary schools while fellow board members Tod Howard and Rosanne Brandeburg favored banning extra-curricular clubs only in middle schools. Fischer said the district should focus on education and that "social engineering" is not the job of the School Board. "It is not our job to socially mentor students, but to educate them," she said. Howard said he was worried about the clubs that would be lost under stricter rules. "I am very concerned that one club would push out the remainder of the clubs that are doing good things," he said.

The issue arose after a 14 year-old middle school student was denied a permit to form a GSA in response to anti-gay bullying. So goodbye chess club, drama club. Them gay kids must be stopped at all costs.